Da Vinci Code Or Are We Dancer?
Been There. Done That. Back Again.
Four hundred rooms. Fourteen miles of hallways. Nearly three million works of art. I always come back to the Hermitage—and to Rembrandt.
Been there. Done that. I am back in St. Petersburg, Russia.
With 400 rooms, 14 miles of hallways, and nearly three million pieces of art, I always come back here—to the Hermitage.
“You’re not going to see people like this again for a long time,” he said. I told him I always saw people like this. He looked at me for a moment and said, “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.”
Dagobert D. Runes
Fortunate Son Meets the Prodigal One
“You do an eclectic celebration of the dance! You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse! You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham! Or Twyla, Twyla, Twyla! Or Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd! Or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna! ... But you keep it all inside.”
The Quirks and Perks of Queuing Up
The shortages are gone, but the Cold War nightmares continue.
So I’m back in Mother F’n Russia: part Victoria’s Secret catwalk, part janitor-in-a-drum, gold-plated septic tank.
Leonardo. Michelangelo. Rembrandt.
And then there is the Hermitage. I saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna and Child, Michelangelo’s Crouching Boy, and Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son.
Waiting six hours for the latest iteration of the iPhone at the Apple Store.
Waiting from 8:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. to step inside the Hermitage—plus the multiplier effect of role-playing in an old Soviet peasant breadline.
Still, I am damn well grateful for the opportunity. Very authentic.
Fortunate Son
A return visit, a familiar city, and another collision between spectacle and memory.
Madonna, Madonna, Madonna
The city as runway, stage, and spectacle.
Street Theatre
People worth seeing because they were already there.
The Prodigal One
The painting that keeps calling me back.
The Long Line
Not an Apple launch. A museum entrance.
Breadline Rehearsal
Two and a half hours of historical atmosphere before the doors opened.
The GR8 View
Back in St. Petersburg for three days. Roll to video.
Make Your Teeth Whiter with Rembrandt
Forget Crest Whitestrips or baking soda. The quickest way to whiten your teeth is to look at a Rembrandt.
It makes you smile. You could take a Rembrandt anywhere in the world—to deserts, jungles, or islands—and people would immediately understand it and respond.
Roll to Video
Back in St. Petersburg, Russia, again for three days. The Hermitage is closed on Monday. On Tuesday, I’ll take video of The Return of the Prodigal Son. I just had a big dinner, so I’m a bit tired—but I shot this video of the GR8 view.
This preserves the original Blogger-hosted video object and its content ID.
I always come back here to Rembrandt. Some museums are places you visit. The Hermitage is a place that remembers you.